The Fairy-Land of Science

Fairy-Land of Science, The

Project Gutenberg's The Fairy-Land of Science , by Arabella B.
Buckley Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to
check the copyright laws for your country before downloading or
redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the
header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is
important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how
the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a
donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since
1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of
Volunteers!*****
Title: The Fairy-Land of Science
Author: Arabella B. Buckley
Release Date: May, 2004 [EBook #5726] [Yes, we are more than one
year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on August 17, 2002]
Edition: 10

Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE
FAIRY-LAND OF SCIENCE ***

The Fairy-Land of Science
Arabella B. Buckley

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Lecture I The Fairy-Land of Science; How to Enter It; How to Use It;
And How to Enjoy It Lecture II Sunbeams, and the Work They Do
Lecture III The Aerial Ocean in Which We Live Lecture IV A Drop of
Water on its Travels Lecture V The Two Great Sculptors - Water and
Ice Lecture VI The Voices of Nature, and How We Hear Them Lecture
VII The Life of a Primrose Lecture VIII The History of a Piece of Coal
Lecture IX Bees in the Hive Lecture X Bees and Flowers

Week 1
LECTURE I
HOW TO ENTER IT; HOW TO USE IT; AND HOW TO ENJOY IT
I HAVE promised to introduce you today to the fairy-land of science -
a somewhat bold promise, seeing that most of you probably look upon
science as a bundle of dry facts, while fairy- land is all that is beautiful,
and full of poetry and imagination. But I thoroughly believe myself,
and hope to prove to you, that science is full of beautiful pictures, of
real poetry, and of wonder-working fairies; and what is more, I promise
you they shall be true fairies, whom you will love just as much when

you are old and greyheaded as when you are young; for you will be
able to call them up wherever you wander by land or by sea, through
meadow or through wood, through water or through air; and though
they themselves will always remain invisible, yet you will see their
wonderful poet at work everywhere around you.
Let us first see for a moment what kind of tales science has to tell, and
how far they are equal to the old fairy tales we all know so well. Who
does not remember the tale of the "Sleeping Beauty in the Wood," and
how under the spell of the angry fairy the maiden pricked herself with
the spindle and slept a hundred years? How the horses in the stall, the
dogs in the court-yard, the doves on the roof, the cook who was boxing
the scullery boy's ears in the kitchen, and the king and queen with all
their courtiers in the hall remained spell-bound, while a thick hedge
grew up all round the castle and all within was still as death. But when
the hundred years had passed the valiant prince came, the thorny hedge
opened before him bearing beautiful flowers; and he, entering the castle,
reached the room where the princess lay, and with one sweet kiss raised
her and all around her to life again.
Can science bring any tale to match this?
Tell me, is there anything in this world more busy and active than water,
as it rushes along in the swift brook, or dashes over the stones, or
spouts up in the fountain, or trickles down from the roof, or shakes
itself into ripples on the surface of the pond as the wind blows over it?
But have you never seen this water spell-bound and motionless? Look
out of the window some cold frosty morning in winter, at the little
brook which yesterday was flowing gently past the house, and see how
still it lies, with the stones over which it was dashing now held tightly
in its icy grasp. Notice the wind-ripples on the pond; they have become
fixed and motionless. Look up at the roof of the house. There, instead
of living doves merely charmed to sleep, we